Essay #2
“A Lazy Girls Guide to Self-Care” is a blog dedicated to holding myself accountable for being kind. The blog content can be split into two categories, Self-Care Tips and Stories. Self-Care tips include various bits of advices that I am either giving myself in that moment in time or pieces of advice that have been given to me that I felt the need to share. The Story posts are more personal journal like entries about time I felt I was successful in being kind to myself by doing simple tasks and am able to share with my audience. The blog is similar to a journal for me and as the about section says, it’s dedicated to holding myself accountable for self-care this semester.
This blog wasn’t written with the intent of an audience, more just a personal reflection. I feel if anyone where to read the publication, it would be those in similar positions as myself; a female, in their twenties, in university. Realistically the audience of my blog is students of Publishing in Everyday Life in addition to the professor and teaching assistant. Since my audience most closely resembles myself the design and content of the blog reflect my personal style. The site design and layout are minimal, providing a personal journal atmosphere. The colouring, yellow, is there to provide warmth, and the floral pattern to add a feminine aspect to the design. The design of my blog is in line with my personal preferences, which is fitting since those similar to me are the intended audience. The content of “A Lazy Girls Guide to Self-Care”, is written informally, in first person and in a way that doesn’t take itself to seriously. As I have no formal training or professional knowledge in the realm of self-care, I am only really qualified to give advice that is from my own experience; Because of this it is fitting that my writing style is not formal or academic. In addition to this the content present on “A Lazy Girls Guide to Self-Care”, is very anecdotal in an attempt to resonate with multiple people rather than only those who know me personally, I tend to stay with topics that would allow others to relate to, regardless of whether they knew me or not. The value I am providing through “A Lazy Girls Guide to Self-Care”, is relatability. I want someone who reads my post to be able to fit the advice into their life or feel less alone.
That being said I think this marks the end of my blogging. I think the tricky thing with producing content is that you need to produce content that you actively consume. A book author wouldn’t be able to write a book never having read one, the same goes for blogging. I do not enjoy reading blogs, I very rarely consume media in that for which made it even harder for me to produce media for this platform. In addition, I recall on the first day we were instructed to write our blog about something that we are passionate about, I did not take this advice. I don’t think there is something I am so passionate about that I would choose to spend my time writing about it, if I’m being honest I hate writing, I have never had a way with words or the want to write down my thoughts.
In regard to social media I am of the opinion that whatever you put online is up to you as long as you can acknowledge that it is there forever and will always be linked back to you. This class has made me realize I do not want my name attached to my blog, I don’t want someone to stumble upon a story I shared and be able to link it to my name. I admire those in this class who have boldly put themselves out there and will continue to do so with their content, but I would rather have my online presence kept to the minimal.
